1. Technical Field
This invention relates to fire detection systems and, more particularly, to a camouflaged thermo-sensitive multi-zone fire detection system for protecting a building structure from wildfire damage.
2. Prior Art
It is a problem for rural homeowners to protect their property from the danger of wildfires. There is an increasing trend for people to build their homes in locations that are within what is called the wild-land/urban interface. This is a term that describes the border zone where structures, mainly residences, are built in wild-land areas that by nature are subject to fires. The wild-land/urban interface describes the geographical areas where formerly urban structures, mainly residences, are built in close proximity to flammable fuels naturally found in wild-land areas, including forests, prairies, hillsides and valleys. To the resident, the forest represents a beautiful environment but to a fire the forest represents a tremendous source of fuel. Areas that are popular wild-land/urban interfaces are the California coastal and mountain areas and the mountainous areas in Colorado (among others).
Residences built in these areas tend to be placed in locations that contain significant quantities of combustible vegetation and the structures themselves have combustible exterior walls and many have untreated wood roofs. Many of these houses are also built on sloping hillsides to obtain scenic views; however, slopes create natural wind flows that increase the spread of a wildfire. These homes are also located a great distance away from fire protection equipment and typically have a limited water supply, such as a residential well with a minimal water flow in the range of one to three gallons per minute.
Given this collection of factors, a wildfire entering this area is very difficult to control. Wildfire can reach an intensity that causes uncontrollable and rapid spread due to spotting, which occurs as wind-borne burning embers are carried far ahead of the main fire front and land in receptive fuels. These embers can fall on the roofs of houses, on woodpiles or can start new fires in the vegetation surrounding a structure while firefighters are occupied elsewhere with the main fire.
All prior art residential firefighting systems are grossly inadequate to deal with wildfires in the wild-land/urban interface area. One of the most significant failings of all of these prior art fire fighting systems is that they are reactive by nature and serve to attempt to extinguish a fire that has begun on the roof of a structure. Due to the limited supply of water in the homes in a wild-land/urban interface, such a method of defense is impractical as it can deliver a very limited amount of water to the structure that is ablaze. In addition, the intensity of a wildfire quickly overwhelms these limited fire extinguishing measures since they are activated once the structure is on fire and/or the wildfire has reached the structure. Many of these prior art systems operate in a preemptive manner and do not provide any environmental dependent measures to prevent the initiation of the fire or to thwart its spread.
Accordingly, a need remains for a thermo-sensitive multi-zone fire detection system in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a fire detection system that is easy to install, versatile in use and provides improved protection to rural residences. Such a system provides fast and effective means for saturating a structure and the surrounding vegetation, thereby preventing it from being engulfed in an advancing wildfire. The small size of the system components, as well as the decorative nature thereof, makes it comparatively unobtrusive, thereby preventing it from detracting from the appearance of a structure. Such an automated system eliminates the need for the owner to remain in a fire threatened area in order to activate the system. The system also provides and effective and efficient means of watering lawns and other ornamental vegetation.